Lord Ashcroft: Polls suggest a bounce for Ukip - and a drop for the Tories (Source: Getty)

Ukip is benefitting from an opinion poll bounce after the party's successes in Essex constituency Clacton and Greater Manchester's Heywood and Middleton.

On October 9, YouGov's poll had Ukip taking 14 per cent of the public vote. Labour was marginally ahead of the Conservatives – 34 per cent compared with 33 per cent – while Lib Dems were languishing in fourth place with seven per cent of the vote.

Today however, Populus suggests the Conservatives have dropped to 30 per cent, with the three other parties picking up a point each, or in the case of the Lib Dems, two.

Lord Ashcroft, who runs his own polling company, highlighted the change: